$1,000 to get into Super 8........

[backtoanalog]

Hey ya'll. I dig this board, I've done a lot of research here on the archives. I'm a musician by trade but i've got a couple short scripts and I'd like to start shooting super 8 shorts. My dream is to shoot the films and write my own score for them, so dialog and sound recording isn't real important, right now at least. I guess i'm going to have to convert everything onto the computer for editing, although I would like to learn how to hand edit. Anyway, I want everything to be pretty pro, in the end I'll want to show the films (with sound) maybe at a small theatre or something. In other words, I'm not doing this as a home hobby but rather for artistic expression. I want the film and music to be of equal importance...instead of just releasing a CD I want to release a DVD that can be watched or listened to or both. This may sound a bit over-ambitious but I play in a fairly well known band and I think I can make this new endeavor happen.

So my question is, if you had a grand to spend to get into super 8 filmmaking, what equipment would you get? Or, knowing what i'm trying to do, would you forget 8mm and just go straight to 16mm? I see the Canon 1014 XLS is a pretty good camera. I'll want to shoot a lot of film so keep that in mind in the budget. I don't need to worry about lights because I have a friend that works for a big photography lighting company in town and she can hook me up with the right stuff. What kind of PC editing program should I get and how do I get the film converted? Also, I'll need a nice projector. And like I said I would like to learn how to edit by hand but if its not cost-effective at all I may not be able to.

Yes, I know some of these topics have been covered here before but I'd appreciate any "fresh" advice you can give me. In short, what gear do I have to have (including lenses, filters, film, etc.) to make killer short films for $1,000?

I'm sorry this is so long but know that I sincerely appreciate the advice. Feel free to send me a pm. Thanks!!

[dsavetsky]

i have the eqip to get you started
if interested call me
1 800 8066808
dave

[c_77]

For a thousand dollars you can easily get started in super 8.

First thing you need is a camera, right?

I don't know if you realize it or not but there are only a few high-end cameras with interchangeable lenses. I believe those would be Beaulieu and Leica. If you go with one of those then you will be near or over your spending limit.

It's hard to say which camera may be best for you. I think the Canons are a great workhorse of a camera. However, you may want to invest in a model with that is more upgradeable to crystal synch conversion.

If you going to be doing anything with sound the Canons are noisy. I'd suggest looking into something in the Nizo line.

Of course you'll need an editor which brings me to my next point. Super 8 is tiny! It could be possible that you may want to go 16mm. It is far more 'acceptable' in the art circles.

The cost of 16mm cameras, film processing, and general difficulty is significantly higher though.

As for editing software, I don't know much at this point. I assume that you will transferring raw footage into your PC for final editing, correct? Moviestuff makes devices for doing your own transfers that if you're really serious are a necessity. I believe he has a few software programs and hardware guidelines as well.

You may want to look at this forum too. Seems to be the place to be lately. [img]graemlins/chat.gif[/img]
http://www.8mm.filmshooting.com/

Moviestuff:
http://www.moviestuff.tv/index.html

[firestorm_bsf]

What I'd do is this:
Go on ebay and buy the best camera you can for under $100-150 bucks w/ shipping.

Then get all your film and shoot- remember about three minutes of film costs around $24-30 for film and processing.

As far as a transfer goes, I'm not sure where you sould go for that, but there are a few good places around. If you can, try to get them digitize it for you as well, this way if you decide to edit on the computer you won't have to buy a capture card (though they can come very cheap)

Editing is interesting.

You can go the route of editing by hand, which is tricky and you need to be careful because you're working with you master while you edit. For that all you need is a splicer and a viewer and some bins to put your clips into.

For non-linear (on a computer)
If you a PC person go with Adobe Premiere, if your a Mac person go with Final Cut Pro. Either way you're going to need a pretty good computer and a lot of hard drive space.

I personally like the route of non-linear, because once you've digitized the film you can play with it as much as you like, and it makes editing with your sound track a LOT easier. Plus if you haven't edited much you can get a feel for it, and if you make a mistake it's very easy to change. AND really if you want to stay on a budget you can find basic non-linear editing programs w/ a capture card for under $100 or so.

One last note, super 8 looks really grainy when projected on a large screen.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 14, 2003 02:08 AM: Message edited by: BSF ]</font>

[woods01]

Get a Canon 1014XL and a variable speed
projector. I don't own a 1014 myself but have
heard many praises about it and I plan to get
one eventually.

But if it was me with $1000 I would look around
for an old 16mm Bolex. Once you've shot some 16mm
you'll be blown away by all the options that
format has in film stock, cameras and lenses.
With some hunting and patience you can get some
nice 16mm packages. A lot of people (read pawn
shops) don't know what they have.

Check to see if your town has a film co-op that rent cameras. Why spend a grand when you
can rent it for a few days? You might also find
a local cinematographer with all the gear and
you can invest your money on film stock and
other expendables.

Don't underestimate getting a digital camera.

Hand editing - forget it, its an exercise in
frustration after you've done computer editing.

Good luck! [img]cool.gif[/img]